Picker



W. HAAG April 21, 1 970 PICKER Filed May 16, 1968 United States Patent 3,507,304 PICKER Walter Haag, Weil der Stadt, Germany, assignor to Albert Haag KG, Weil der Stadt, Germany Filed May 16, 1968, Ser. No. 729,639 Claims priority, application Germany, May 17, 1967,

Int. Cl. D03d 49/36 U.S. Cl. 139-159 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A picker for looms which includes an elastomeric picker body and an insert of highly wear resistant material arranged at the front end of said picker body and connected thereto while extending over the entire width of said picker.

The present invention relates to a picker for textile machinery. Heretofore, primarily three types of pickers have been employed, viz. fabric picker, picker of highly molecular low pressure polyethylene, and pickers of polyurethane elastomers (in most instances, pickers of a material known under the trademark Vulkollan). With fabric pickers, two types are to be differentiated, viz. softer pickers with a low amount of fabric, and harder pickers with a high amount of fabric. The said softer pickers yield a somewhat softer catch of the shuttle but have an unsatisfactory life span. The harder fabric pickers, while having a satisfactory life span, are too hard for many looms, which means that they require a high thread tension with the cops in order to avoid flying-off of the cops.

The polyethylene pickers have the drawback that in most instances, they are too hard and make too much 110186.

The Vulkollan pickers, while being low in noise and yielding a soft catching of the shuttle impacting upon the picker, have the drawback that in most instances, they have a rather limited life span.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a picker which will overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a picker which will have a long life span, will have a great shock absorption when impacted upon by the shuttle, and which will be low in noise development.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section through the picker;

FIGURE 2 is an end view of FIGURE 1 as seen in the direction of the arrow A;

FIGURE 3 is a right-hand end view (with regard to the drawing) of the insert according to the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a top view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal section through a modified picker according to the invention;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the larger end of FIG- URE 5 FIGURE 7 is a top view of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a longitudinal section through still another modified picker; and

FIGURE 9 is an end view of FIGURE 8 as seen in the direction of the arrow B.

The above-mentioned objects have been realized according to the present invention by a picker the body of which consists of a polyurethane elastomer which yields the required shock absorption, and by employing an in- 3,507,304 Patented Apr. 21, 1970 sert at the front side of the picker which is in an absolutely reliable manner connected to the picker.

Inasmuch as the insert consists of wear-resistant synthetic material, the picker has a long life. Tests have proved that the wear by the shutter tip is particularly low with this type of picker because the insert is embedded in an elastic picker body. The most important advantage of the picker according to the present invention is seen in its high shock absorption, which has not been realized with any of the heretofore known pickers having a long life.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the high elastic, relatively soft picker body 1 is provided with an insert 2. According to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 5, the insert takes up the entire front surface of the picker. According to FIG. 1, the picker is by means of an oblong stud 3 anchored by its marginal area 4 in the picker body. The stud as well as the marginal area have laterally straight side 4a in order to prevent a turning of the insert.

With the picker according to FIG. 5, the insert 2a is by means of a T-shaped rail 5 extending over the entire height of the picker, connected to the picker body 1. The insert is secured against displacement by means of one or more transverse ribs 6. These ribs 6 will not prevent the insertion of the insert 2a in the picker body 1 from the top or from below inasmuch as the picker body which consists of a rubber elastic material will yield to the necessary extent so that the picker body can be hammered into the insert or vice versa.

The picker according to FIG. 8 has a circular insert 2b which by means of a truncated cone 7 rests against the picker body 1. The stud of the insert is safely anchored in a complementary socket in the front face of the headed picker body by the protruding marginal portion 8 and forms a snap connecting means by expanding the margin of the recess in the picking body to engage behind the marginal portion. The insert is approximately as wide as the picker body, and covers at least two-thirds of the front face of the picker body, as shown in FIGURE 8. With the picker according to FIG. 8, the picker body is on the top side thereof between the insert and the picking stick provided with a recess 9 which brings about that when employing the picker, the insert will yield uniformly on all sides when the shuttle is subjected to pressure. Without recess 9, the picker body would have only a low yieldability on the top side as well as on the bottom side.

Preferably, a polyurethane elastomer in the hardening range between and Shore is employed for the picker body.

The truncated cone of the insert according to FIG. 8 has a conical angle of from to 150, preferably The relatively obtuse conical angle is selected for the purpose of preventing the depth of the insert in the direction of the shuttle movement from becoming too deep, in order to assure that between the insert and the picker stick a sufficient cushion remains for the shock absorption. The inserts 2, 2a, 2b of the picker are made either of high molecular low pressure polyethylene with a molecular weight of more than one million or are made of polyamide, especially a soft (weichgestelltes) polyamide.

Tests conducted with the picker have proved that this picker works without noise because the rubber elastic bearing body acts in a highly sound-absorbing manner.

Further tests with the picker according to the invention have proved that when employing this picker, the thread tension on the cop also can be reduced to 50% of that with fabric pickers. Thus, the invention results in a considerable reduction of thread breaks. The inserts of the new picker are exchangeable thereby further increasing the economy of the picker.

It is, of course, to be understood, that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular em? bodiments shown in the drawing, but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is: i

1. A picker for looms, particularly a loop picker, which includes: an elastomeric picker body of relatively soft synthetic material, an interchangeable insert of highly wear resistant relatively hard material arranged to cover at least two-thirds of the front end of said picker body and connected thereto while extending over substantially the entire width of said picker body, and snap connecting means releasably joiningsaid insert to said elastomeric picker body and including a substantially rounded projection complementary between said insert and said picker body.

2. A picker according to claim 1, in which said insert is circular and coaxial with respect to said rounded projection.

3. A picker according to claim 2, in which there is a truncated cone portion of said insert having a configuration complementary to the front end of said picker body and having angular range of said truncated cone portion at least between 120 and 150, particularly between 130 and 140.

4. A picker according to claim 2, in which said insert has a truncated cone portion with the narrower diameter thereof facing the said picker body and also has a discshaped protruding marginal portion connected integrally to said truncated cone portion near the narrower diameter and firmly engaged with snap fit by said picker body.

5. A picker according to claim 2, in which said snap connecting means comprises a headed stud receivable in a complementary socket in the front face of the picker body which upon snap-fit engagement of said snap connecting means with respect to said picker body is so tight as to be secure against relative rotation and turning of the insert with respect to said picker body.

6. A picker according to claim 5, in which side flattening of said rounded projection at least in part assures against rotation and turning of said insert with respect to said snap fit into said picker body.

7. A picker according to claim 1, in which said picker body consists of a polyurethane elastomer synthetic material with a hardness of from to Shore.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,534,203 12/1950 Moe 139159 2,968,322 1/1961 Downs l39159 3,020,932 2/1962 Rivera 139159 3,167,096 1/1965 Budzyna 139159 3,229,726 1/1966 Murray 139-459 3,302,667 2/1967 Urquhardt et al 139159 FOREIGN PATENTS 646,667 7/ 1928 France.

253,264 6/ 1926 Great Britain. 1,019,850 2/1966 Great Britain.

217,200 1/1942 Switzerland.

JAMES KEE CHI, Primary Examiner 

